Just a Kiss
by waiting4princecharming
Summary: SPOILERS FOR CRESS! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CRESS! CinderxKai pairing. Fluff and stuff. Summary inside due to spoilers.


Summary: This is just after Cinder and Kai kiss at the end of Cress. I'm ignoring the fact that Levana massacred people, I'm still crying about that. This is a fluffy one-shot with OTP stuff. :) Enjoy!

Just a Kiss

It was just a kiss. So why does Cinder feel like her body temperature has been permanently raised? Her heartbeat still hasn't calmed down, and every once in a while, she has to dismiss warning notifications. Cinder sighed and stopped pacing. She flopped back onto her bunk in the Rampion, and pushed her face into the pillow. She felt like screaming. She felt like laughing. She felt like kissing Kai again and feeling that wonderful breathless feeling. This is what being human felt like. She laughed into her pillow. _Oh, stars._ She thought. _I'm acting all giddy and girly. What got into me? _Cinder breathed out and sat up. A little giggle bubbled up from her chest and burst out of her mouth before she could suppress it. She clapped a hand over her mouth and bit the inside of her cheek. _Calm down, Cinder. It was just a kiss. _But inside, Cinder knew it really wasn't just a kiss.

Kai was stunned. He... She... They just. Kissed.

Whoa.

He could swear his face was still burning. But he wasn't embarrassed. Nope, not at all. He was so happy that he could skip down the hall instead of walking. But he was an emperor. And emperors didn't skip. Kai finally moved from the spot that he had been standing at for at least ten minutes. He felt like yelling. He felt like laughing. He felt like kissing Cinder again and feeling that wonderful burst of warmth that blossomed in his chest. But he was an emperor. He had to be dignified. But Kai couldn't wipe the smile off his face. He tried again, unsuccessfully to straighten his face. _Come on, Kai, get it together. It was just a kiss. _But inside, Kai knew it wasn't just a kiss.

Cinder calmed herself down and exited the bunk room. Winding her way around boxes of supplies, she grabbed a few cans. Tomatoes for Wolf, especially. Dinner consisted of whatever was on the top of the pile, and tomatoes. It was always tomatoes. She balanced the cans on top of each other and carried them to the makeshift table they had created. "Iko, tell everyone it's time for dinner." Cinder could hear Iko's voice echoing around the ship. One by one, each member of the crew came and sat down. "Tomatoes?" asked Wolf.

"Of course," Cinder responded. Kai came last, and they locked eyes across the room. He looked lost. Cinder giggled to herself. _Of course. The mighty emperor won't know how to be 'normal.' He probably has never eaten out of a can in his life. _Cinder shook her head. _Stop giggling. _She commanded herself. "Sit down," She said, barely suppressing a grin. He looked so confused. Cautiously, he sat down and took the can that was passed to him. Every one began digging into their respective can, and still Kai sat there. Cinder paused. "Kai?" she asked.

"Hmm?" He looked up.

"Is there a problem?" She asked. He flushed red.

"Uh. No."

"Are you sure?" Cinder could see Cress and Thorne exchanging glances. Wolf was too absorbed in himself to notice.

"Yeah. Um, no. I'm not sure."

"What do you mean?" Cinder was confused now. He held up his fork.

"Am I supposed to eat the soup with this?" Cinder laughed.

"No. Actually, you don't even need the fork." He looked at her quizzically.

"Just drink it." She said, smirking. Kai looked skeptical. "Come on, Emperor, you can do it." She teased. He shot her a dirty look and picked up the can, raising it to his lips. Cinder bit her cheek, trying not to laugh at the ridiculous scene in front of her. He took a sip and surprise registered on his face. "That... wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"You've never had something out of a can?" asked Cress.

"No," Kai said, dipping his head slightly.

"That's all I ever had on my satellite. Aside from the rare meal that Mistress Sybil brought." Kai was shocked.

"You lived on a satellite?"

"Yes, actually. Pretty much my whole life."

"Who put you there?"

"Mistress Sybil. Well, I guess Queen Levana, by extension. I'm a Lunar." She added, slightly apologetically.

"How have I missed so much?" Kai muttered.

"Probably because you've been brainwashed by your fiancee, who happens to be an evil, secretive Lunar queen." Cinder put in. Kai turned his head to glare at her. "I didn't really have a choice in this, ok? If I had a choice, I would have..." He trailed off.

"You would have what?" Thorne prompted.

"Never mind." He brushed it off, but his eyes locked on Cinder's for a moment too long. They both looked at their cans, Kai blushing and Cinder trying to ignore the notifications popping up in the corner of her vision.

"Well! Thorne and I are going to sort through more boxes, ok Thorne?" Cress pulled on his arm and yanked him up off the bench. "But Cinder already-"

"Shh! There was some she missed. Cress cut him off. "See you guys later!" She yelled over her shoulder, dragging Thorne with her.

Cinder chuckled, and looked back at Kai. "I'm going to go check on the cockpit, and Iko. I'll be back."

She turned to Wolf. "Hey, Wolf? Make sure you eat something." He gave a noncommittal grunt and Cinder sighed, pushing back from the table and collecting everyone else's cans and silverware. She noticed Kai had gotten up and began clearing things as well. "You're helping me?" she asked, taken aback. He shrugged. "I'm not that spoiled. Plus, there's a first time for everything, right? I mean, I've just been kidnapped for the first time, eaten soup out of a can, and kissed a girl..." He trailed off. They were standing face to face now. "..for the first time." The last part came out as a whisper. Cinder ducked her head. "The trash is this way." Cinder said. They dumped their things in the bin and walked side by side to the cockpit. "For the record, um, this is the first time I've ever... kissed a guy." Cinder said, stammering. They arrived at the cockpit and Cinder checked with Iko, making sure they couldn't be found and that Cress had done the right programming. Iko was their stand in pilot, because Scarlet was, well, gone. As she worked, Cinder began thinking about the last time they were alone, together. Unbeknownst to her, Kai was thinking about the same thing. She turned around from the controls and found Kai staring at her. "What?" She asked. "Is my hair sticking up or something?" He shook his head.

"No. Just, um, thinking." Then she looked at him, really looked at him. His black hair was as untidy as ever, hanging in his deep brown eyes. He was looking back at her and suddenly she couldn't breathe. They were staring, taking the other one in for the first time since this whole fiasco started. Kai took a step forward. "I've never had a second kiss before," he said, softly.

"Me neither," said Cinder, a little breathlessly.

And then they kissed.

**A/N: I fixed the weird Chinese letters that fanfiction put in there. Sorry about that! I hope all the characters are in character. :)**

**Please review!**


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